[bradhe]

A lot of people are going to say "side porejcts," which are great after you get your foot in the door...but your problem is you can't even find the door.

1. Network. 2. Show initiative, be proactive. 3. Be persistent.

Find a few companies you want to work for and see if you can figure out how to take one of the hiring managers out for a coffee or whatever. Tell them you are interested in the company and want to learn about their team and the projects they work on.

If you don't get hired for that company/team/whatever you will likely get to nted in the right direction.

[mcardleliam]

How does he show initiative? A couple of reasons people work on side projects are to gain experience and show initiative. While I'd agree that 1, 2, and 3 are good things....I would also say that side projects are a way to achieve #2.

[bradhe]

Totally agree.

[compscikid]

I'm guessing this would only work for startups, right? Should I go about finding the hiring managers through something like LinkedIn?

[bradhe]

It will work at any company I think. I've used this for very large software companies before. LinkedIn is the tool. Intro is best so look for connections.